Life next to Wales’ last coal fired power station

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Demolition of Wales’ last coal-fired power station is expected to be completed by 2027 and the nearby ash mound is also going to be removed and processed, but locals were told this could take years.

For decades Keith Neighbour has been living at the foot of a mountain made of ash from Wales’ last coal fired power station. Both the power station and ash mound will, over the coming years, be taken away and the landscape outside of his window will change forever.

Nuisance

Every morning when Keith looks outside, he can see the top of the chimney stack of Aberthaw Power Station, which lies just on the other side of the huge ash mound that has built up over the 50 years of the Vale of Glamorgan site being in operation.

“The nuisance was tremendous,” said Keith, recalling how dust from the mound would sometimes blow onto his and other people’s properties.

“It [was] like mascara coming off the window sills. It gets everywhere. I could open any one of these windows that faces that tip and I bet you there’s ash in it.”

On a particularly windy day, Keith said he wouldn’t dare open his windows. Putting the washing up outside was out of the question.

Aberthaw Power Station closed in 2020, and it is currently being demolished as part of Cardiff Capital Region’s (CCR) plans to build a renewable energy park in its place.

With 17 million tonnes of compacted waste ash waiting to be disturbed, it is this that Keith and other residents living nearby seem most worried about when it comes to the removal of the power station.

CCR said it had been conducting tests on the pulverised fuel ash at the site and that no decisions had been made regarding its future use. However, the company in line to process the ash, Celtic Minerals, states on its website that it plans to process 600,000 tonnes of waste ash per year.

The company said it could use the waste ash to produce a cement replacement and activated carbon – a material that has a number of industrial, medical, agricultural and environmental uses. It can also be used as a material in 3D printing.

The company’s website also states that it is a project which could last 30 years.

Future

Keith added: “I am certainly not against them taking it [the power station] down. If they create a bit of noise over there or dust over there it doesn’t really worry me because it is going to be a three year project to clear that and it is going to be a park for green energy.

“Wonderful. No problem at all, but this for 18 years of dust and what for?”

Having experienced what dust and ash could do to his home, Keith said he had even painted his decking grey in case dust from the demolition works affected his property – a claim that a number of residents have already made.

Erith, which is carrying out the demolition works has been contacted for a response about this.

A few hundred metres up the road from where Keith lives is the village of East Aberthaw. Husband and wife Angela and Chris Dymond have been living in their home there for 18 years.

“I must tell you I am really worried what they are going to do about that,” said Angela, pointing to the mountain of ash that overlooks their property. Chris added that the ash “used to cover the house”.

The first power station at Aberthaw, Aberthaw A power station, was in operation from 1963 to 1995. Built at the same site, Aberthaw B power station started operating in 1971.

There were plans to increase the size of the ash mound in 2007, but this was eventually overturned after residents raised concerns about the proposal.

Angela said: “You’d always be wiping your ledges. You never knew if it was coal or… pulverised fuel ash. It is a lovely village but… it has an affect on everybody.”

Chris said they and a number of others were also worried about the impact that taking down the ash mound could have on local wildlife.

Wildlife

Although flanked on almost every side by industry – the former power station to the west, a cement works to the north and a quarry to the east – land around East Aberthaw, particularly to the south, is rich in wildlife.

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s website states that more than 1,000 different species have been recorded on land around the power station, and the coast line just below East Aberthaw is a designated site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

Angela said: “I am so upset that we could have gone through 18 years and now, at the other side of it, this is what they decided to do. To take the mound down… we understand perhaps that the power station has got to go, but we would never have ever thought that they were going to think about taking the mound down.”

Radio presenter, Simon Jagger, has been living in East Aberthaw for nearly eight years. He said: “I have been told when that [power station] goes they have got to take the hill down… giving us a sea view again, but whether that happens in my lifetime I don’t know.”

Talking about what it was like living next to the power station now that it was decommissioned, he said: “We get a longer sleep because the trains don’t pull up. It is time for it to go isn’t it? It has got to go and make that coast line down there a bit prettier.”

CCR committed itself to purchasing Aberthaw Power Station from previous owner, RWE, in 2022, for £8m.

An annual report published by CCR Energy, part of CCR, for 2023-24 states commencement of the removal and processing of the ash mound on site is expected to take place within the first five years of work starting on the power station itself.

Under a section on years 11 to 15 of the project, the report states the masterplan is expected to be finished during this period. No one specific form of renewable energy production has been put forward by CCR yet as part of its masterplan.

The regional body, which is made up of 10 councils from across South East Wales, did confirm that it was assessing the feasibility of various technologies, including wind, solar and tidal power.

Ash

For East Aberthaw resident, Trevor Dally, the biggest regret about the power station was the ash mound.

“Not for the obvious reasons of the dust,” he said. “But because of the fact that when we bought this house in 1976, out of this window you could look down onto the old marsh area around the River Thaw and from the bedroom you could see right down the channel to Ilfracombe.”

Trevor said he’d always had a different outlook on Aberthaw Power Station to many people in the village because he worked there for 40 years.

He retired in 2010 and currently lives with his wife Janice in Station Terrace, which looks out onto the ash mound and the chimney stack of Aberthaw Power Station.

Trevor seems accepting of the fate that lies in store for his former work place – a place that has given him a “box of good memories” from day one. He said: “It was inevitable with all of them really. They all wear out in the end.

“Because you were attached to the place, because you worked there, it is a little bit different. I can’t say you have feelings for the place, but you do get attached to it don’t you?

“The power station has always been a bit problematic with noise and dust, but not 24 hours a day. Just occasionally. I always found it was something you could live with and of course I couldn’t gripe too much because I was working there.”

Janice’s concerns about the power station, like those of her neighbours, were largely based on the future of the accompanying ash mound.

She said: “I think if they did disturb that [ash mound], the mess would be horrendous. Be it the fact that they are taking it out on lorries or on trains – whatever. The prevailing winds come this way and it is going to blow on the village again.”

Research

A CCR spokesperson said: “CCR Energy has been conducting testing on the Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA) mound as part of our ongoing research. This is a crucial step in gathering data to understand the ash characteristics.

“At this stage, we remain in the research phase, and no decisions have been made regarding its future use. We appreciate the community’s interest and are committed to transparent communication as our plans develop.

“In addition to investigatory work on the ash mound, we are also exploring a range of renewable energy solutions for the site. The low-carbon destination concept remains under development, and we continue to assess the feasibility of various technologies (including wind, solar, and tidal power) to determine the most suitable and sustainable option.

“As soon as more information is available, we will share updates with local residents. The demolition of the power station is progressing, with our programme in place as we work towards a completion date in 2027.

“We value ongoing engagement with the community and remain committed to providing regular updates as the project evolves.”

Despite knowing that two major features of their landscape look set to disappear for good, residents in and around East Aberthaw can only wait to find out how long that will take and what effect it will have.

Trevor Dally at least is hopeful he can witness the village he’s lived in for most of his life come full circle and look something more like the place he knew growing up in 1947.

He said: “I am looking forward to it being demolished because, if I am lucky… living in the village where I was, I saw them build the A station and demolish that and then I saw them build the B station. If I can live to see that demolished as well I will be quite happy with that.”